Good looking, functional HTPC cases tend to be expensive, especially if they are designed to blend in with other stereo or TV components. Wesena found a way to deliver a good looking ITX sized HTPC enclosure for under $100 with their new ITX7. Part of the price drop is the removal of an optical drive bay, which makes a great deal of sense when you are trying to cut the cost and size of a box. The aluminium exterior with a brushed black finish is quite attractive and the system that Missing Remote fit inside the case included a Core i5-2400S, 4GB DDR3 and an SSD and HDD. They also verified the fit of two TV Tuner cards, the Ceton InfiniTV 4 and AVerMedia M780 as well as a GT430 and HD5550 though you won't be fitting a passively cooled GTX680 in here. Check this case out if you have been suffering sticker shock from other HTPC case manufacturers.

"Boasting clean lines, the right look, and solid construction for Mini-ITX based systems the Wesena ITX5 all-aluminum enclosure offers capabilities very similar to the ITX7; by removing optical drive support in a slightly lower cost ($80) package. Building a name for quality takes time and attention to feedback, so it was fantastic to examine the generational differences between the two small form-factor (SFF) home theater PC (HTPC) chassis from Wesena. As a refinement on the previous iteration we hope to see the niggles around fit-and-finish addressed."